Green Bathroom Remodeling Tips

The average bathroom can be a bit of a green nightmare. All in all, it can be a pretty resource hungry room, which is obviously bad for the planet – but can also put a serious dent in your bank account!

Don’t worry though, because if it is time to remodel your bathroom then this is the perfect time to address any additional waste (and expense!) your bathroom may be generating.

So take a look at these tips and bear them in mind during the design phase and you could stop flushing money away.

(Get it? because the toilet is in the bathroom, and an old bathroom could be costing you lots of money? Come on, it’s a good joke!).

Stop Flushing Money Down the Drain

Ok, I still stand by that joke.

One of the ways that a new bathroom can be installed with some serious environmental credentials is to bear in mind the amount of water that is used in this room – and how much is wasted.

Yes, just as my hilarious joke suggests, the toilet can often use more water per flush then it really needs too – and that is not a joke. “Around 25% of all the water used in a home is simply flushed down the toilet – and that can be an environmental drain as well as a monetary one” says Derek with Kitchen & Bath Remodeling of Alexandria whom I’ve personally interviewed for this report.

Consider installing a new toilet with a smaller flush, and also a grey water collection system can be great, if you have the space. This will collect water from the shower and the taps and store it up to use as water to flush the toilet with.

For example, this is what The Fiscal Times recommend for kitchens:

See The Light

So many bathrooms are built with such poor window installations, they almost make it as if you have to turn the lights on no matter what time of day you go in there.

Then there are the bathrooms built with no widows at all!

Now, obviously it will depend on the placement of your bathroom. It if does not have an outside facing wall then of course you can’t have a window. However, if your current bathroom has a window and its tiny or tucked up out of the way then please consider installing a bigger window during the remodeling.

Not only could this save you some serious money in cutting back on your lighting bills, bathroom that is lit by natural light is a bathroom that is a pleasure to use.

Shower Power

Consider installing a standalone shower cubicle instead of – or in addition to – a bath in your new bathroom.

For one thing, baths are simply not very environmentally friendly. In fact, taking a bath will use around 70% more energy that would be used for shower.

At the same time, there is nothing quite like relaxing in a nice hot bath, is there? So it’s completely understandable why you want one on your newly renovated bathroom.

Just recognize though that you are probably not going to have a bath every single day are you? A standalone shower cubicle has a flat floor, which makes it safer to stand in for a shower then the smooth and curved base of a bathtub.